National confidence campaign in assured fresh meat launched

EBLEX and BPEX have launched a national press advertising campaign to protect consumer confidence in assured fresh meat amid on-going revelations about horse meat.

Half-page adverts highlighting the traceability and provenance of fresh beef, lamb, pork and bacon bearing the Red Tractor and Quality Standard Mark (QSM) assurance scheme labels will appear in all national newspapers on Saturday 16 February. A further advert will run in the London Evening Standard on Monday 18 February.

Anecdotal evidence has suggested that consumer demand for assured fresh meat has remained robust during the horse meat scandal. However, consumers are increasingly looking for assurance marks when buying meat products.

A Kantar poll revealed that 20% of consumers have indicated that they would buy more fresh meat and 13% would buy more locally sourced meat with these marks.

Jane Ritchie-Smith, head of consumer marketing for EBLEX, said "Provenance of products is important for our consumers, and independent auditing, which is already a key requirement of both the Red Tractor and QSM assurance schemes, will be central to ensuring consumer confidence."

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